COASTAL COMMISSION CONSIDERING SEA LEVEL RISE ADAPTATION GUIDANCE

In July 2017, the California Coastal Commission released draft guidelines for addressing sea level rise in local coastal programs. Pursuant to a letter from C.A.R. and a subsequent conference call between C.A.R. staff and Coastal Commission representatives, the Coastal Commission decided to prepare a revised set of draft guidelines.

The second set of draft guidelines are set to be released March 2018. Once this second draft is released there will be a second comments period during which C.A.R. will again review the proposed language and provide comments to the Commission.

Details about the process are as follows: On July 28, 2017, the Coastal Commission released draft guidelines for addressing sea level rise in local coastal programs. The draft guidelines provide direction for incorporating sea-level rise projects into planning and land use decisions. The guidelines were written to offer local governments model ordinance language that they could adopt directly into their local coastal programs to regulate and control housing in the coastal zone.

Opposing numerous onerous new requirements to redesign and/or remove homes along the coastline,

Opposing recommendations for condemnation,

Opposing new real estate marketing and disclosure mandates, and

Opposing the assignment of all risk and liability to private property owners.

The comment period for the draft guidelines closed September 29, 2017. All formal comments, including the letter from C.A.R. are available online .

Due to C.A.R.’s comprehensive comments, a Coastal Commission scientist and an attorney held a conference call with C.A.R. staff on November 9, 2017, to review and address the comments and concerns expressed in our letter. They spoke in detail about transactions, disclosure, liability and private property rights. C.A.R. staff made it a point to highlight that the proposed language would lead to premature or unjust takings.

Because of C.A.R.’s letter and the conference call, the Coastal Commission decided to prepare a second draft of the guidelines. Staff is currently waiting for the second draft to be released in March 2018, to see how its first round of comments affected the language.

After comments on the second draft are processed a final draft will be released. Adoption of the final draft is expected in Summer 2018. Once adopted, local governments will begin considering adopting all or parts of the model language into their local coastal programs.

C.A.R. strongly encourages local associations to actively engage in the adoption of these guidelines in their local communities.